Flexible jewelry band and snap clasp therefor



Sept. 13,

1960 S. GELDWEIVRTH FLEXIBLE JEWELRY BAND AND SNAP CLASP THEREFOR FiledJuly 21, 1958 y /5 09/ 32 32 3/ K- 7 /9 34 6527 50; 5 20 /995 g 35 35 za024 2a i 37 57 C FIG. 4 2A. w/s/ :vp/fiz,

I l INVENTOR. 29 22 76 L4 L22 j/Mdfl g g B I ATTORNEY United StatesPatent O FLEXIBLE JEWELRY BAND AND SNAP CLASP THEREFOR Simon Geldwerth,New York, N.Y. (1434 57th St., Brooklyn, N.Y.)

Filed July 21, 1958,'Ser. No. 749,893

9 Claims. (Cl. 24-230) members during the clasping operation, and toguide one of the clasp members within .the other during the closure ofthe snap clasps.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a strong, rugged,and durable bracelet or necklace, and clasp therefor, which shall berelatively inexpensive. to manufacture, and which shall yet be practicaland efficient to a high degree and use.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in parthereinaiter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the construction hereina-fiter described, and of whichthe scope of invention will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawing in which is shown vari ous illustrativeembodiments of this invention,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a portion of abracelet or necklace providedwith a snap clasp member etnbody ing the invention,

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional View taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a top perspective view of the clasp-members separated from oneanother,

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of a blank for making the female snap claspmember, and

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of a blank for making the male snap claspmember.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, designates a bracelet ornecklace embodying the invention. The same comprises a bracelet ornecklace chain or band 1 1 of any suitable construction. Said chain maycomprise links or any other articulated elements. One end 11a, of thechain 11, is attached to a female snap clasp member 13. The other end11b, of the chain 11, is attached to a male snap clasp member 14.

Member 13 is made from the blank '15 shown in Fig. 4 of the drawing. Theblank 15 may be made of sheet metal, if desired. The blank 15 comprisesa central section 16 having a straight end edge 17, and is bounded atthe sides by bend lines 18, indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4.Opposite to the edge 17, is a convex edge 19, connected by short alignededge portions 20 to the ends of the bend lines 18. The bend lines 18 areparallel to one another and extend' to the edge 17. Extending .from thebend lines 18 are similar symmetrical sections 21, rectangular in shapeand having edges 22 coextensive with the edge 17. Opposite the edges 22are aligned bend lines 23,, which are coextensive with the short edges"ice 20. Sections 21 have outer end edges 24, parallel to the bend lines18.

EX-tending from the bend lines 23 are similar symmetrically disposedsections 27. Said sections 27 have inner edges 28, parallel and spacedclose to the edges 24. It will be noted that the metal is slitted toform the coextensive edges 24, 28. Sections 27 have edges 29 which arein alignment with the edges 22 and 17. Said sections have parallel edges30 at right angles to the edges 29. Said sections also have edges 31 inalignment with one another and parallel to the edges 29. Said sections27 are also formed with inner edges 32 parallel to the edges 30, andextending from the edges 31, terminating short of the bend lines 23 atpoints 33.

Extending from the points 33 are aligned short edges 34 perpendicular tothe edges 32. Extending downwardly from the edges 34 are inner edges 35parallel to one another and terminating at points opposite from the bendlines 23. Extending inwardly from the lower ends of edges 35 are.aligned edges 36 parallel to the bend lines 23. Extending from theinner ends of edges 36 are parallel edges 37 which terminatesubstantially at the junctions of the bend lines 18 and 23.

To form the clasp member 13 from the blank 15, section 16 forms a bottomwall for. said clasp member. Sections 21 are bent upwardly about thebend lines 18 to term side walls for the clasp member. Saidside wallshave upper edges 24. The sections 27 are bent about the bend lines 23inwardly into alignment until said sections are at right angles to theside walls 21, as shown in'Fig. 3 of the drawing Said sections 27 willnow form wings extending outwardly beyond the side walls 21. The edges31 will now be parallel to and spaced from one another. The edges 30will now be in alignment. The edges 31 will be parallel to one another.The edges 32 will be in alignment. The edges 32 will be spaced above thetop surface of section 1 6 and the edges 35 will also be spaced abovethe upper surface of section 16 forming slot 3511, but will be closerthereto forming slots 36a. It will now be understood that the braceletor necklace at l la is attached to the clasp member 13 by welding orsoldering the said bracelet end to the upper edges 24 of the side walls21' and to the rear surfaces of sections 27. The bracelet end 11 willhave a recess at the space between the edges 31 tor the purposehereinafter appearing 'Ihe clasp member 14 may be made from the blank 40shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing. Said blank 40 may likewise be made ofsheet metal. The blank 40 comprises a rectangular section 41,.having along edge 42, and parallel shorter side edges 43, at right angles tosaid long edge. Extending inwardly from edges 43, are aligned edges 44,parallel to the edge 42, and terminating at points 45. The points 45'are interconnected by .a bend line 46, shown in dotted lines inthedrawing. Extending from the points 45 are parallel edges 47, the lowerends of which are interconnected by a bend line 48 parallel to the bendline 46. The part of the blank bounded by bend lines 46, 48, and sideedges 47, constitutes a section 50. Extending from the ends of the bendline 48 are inwardly inclined edges 51 from which extend parallel edges52, interconnected by an edge 53 perpendicular to said edges 52, andparallelto the bend line 48. The part of the blank bound' by bend line48 and edges 51, 52 and 53, constitutes a section 54.

To make the clasp member 14 from the blank 40, section 54 is bent aboutbend line 48 over section 50. The length of section 54 is somewhat lessthan the length of section 50. Section 54, when it is bent over section50, normally remains in upwardly and rearwardly inclined positionrelative to section 50. Thus section 54 becomes a spring plate ortongue, and said section may be depressed until it lies flat on theupper surface of :section 50. Section 50 is bent about bend line 46until it is at right angles to section 41. It will be' noted thatsection 50, at the two sides thereof, extends beyond section 54 therebyforming guide flanges 50a. Soldered -to the bent-over section 54 is apin 60 having a head 61. The pin 60 is located close to edge 53 and iscentrally disposed between the side edges 52.

4 The opposite end :11]; of the bracelet or necklace is Welded orsoldered to the outer surface of section 41. It will be noted that theouter ends of the sections 27 and 41, may be clipped to accommodate thewidth of the bracelet or necklace to the combined widths of sections 27and to the width of section 41.. For a wider bracelet, sections 27 and41of greater length, are used. To accommodate a narrower bracelet, theouter end of wings are cut down to suit.

7 In order to join together the ends of the bracelet, sections 54 and 50are passed between the wall 16 and the edges 32 and 35. It will be notedthat the side flanges 50a, of member 14, engage between the edges 35'and the upper surface of section 16 in slots 36a, whereas the topsurface of the spring bent-over section 54 engages the edges 32, passingthrough slot 35a. The pin 60 pass- .es through the space betweensections 27. When the edge 53 of bent-over section 54 passses beyondsections 27, spring tongue section 54 will snap up so that the edge 53thereof will engage the inner surfaces of sections 27, to keep the claspclosed. The pin 60 will enter the recess in the middle of end 11a of thebracelet or necklace in back of the space between sections 27.

Thus the flanges 50a serve to guide the clasp members 14 and 13 duringclasping engagement and to prevent sidesway of the parts. Thus ifmembers 13 and 14 are -made of .025" stock, edges 34 and 36 would be.030" in length each. Thus there would be only .005" play between theflanges 50a and the edges 35. Yet the sections 50, 52 may be readilypressed together since section 54 is only .025 thickness and passesthrough a space of If, for example, the flanges 50a were omitted, andthe shoulders formed by edges 34, 35 were omitted,

then after the spring section 54 were fully through the slot beneath thewings 27, and said spring section were to spring up, then the .025"thickness of the bottom wall -50 would have loose movement in a space of.060" between the bottom wall 16 and the edges 32. Such. constructionwould result from making the sections 50 and 54 of the same width andehninating the shoulders formed by edges 34 and 35.

It will thus be seen that there is provided an appara- .tus in which theseveral objects of this invention are achieved and which is well adaptedto meet the condition of practical use.

As possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and asvarious changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it isto be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in theaccompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense,

I claim:

7 1. -A clasp for a bracelet or necklace comprising a clasp membercomprised of a single sheet of metal of uniform thickness bent to form abottom wall, parallel side walls extending upwardly from the bottomwall, a pair of aligned spaced wings extending transversely from theforward ends of the side walls and extending outwardly beyond said wallsand inwardly, said wings being spaced at their inner ends to form acentral vertical space, the lower edges of said wings between said sidewalls being cut away to form a horizontal slot intersecting saidvertical space, and a second clasp member comprised of a single sheet ofmetal of uniform thlckness bent to form a bottom wall, a spring sectionbottom section, an upstanding wall extending upwardly about the frontend of the bottom section, and extending outwardly beyond the sides ofsaid bottom section, and being coextensive lengthwise with the combinedaligned sections of thefirst clasp member, and parallel thereto, saidbottom wall and spring section engaging in said horizontal slot, withsaid spring section bearing against the under sidesof the portions ofsaid wings between said side walls.

2. A clasp for a bracelet or necklace comprising a claspmember having aflat sheet forming a continuous bottom wall, integral parallel sidewalls extending upwardly from the sides of the bottom wall, and a pairof integral aligned spaced wings extending from the forward ends of theside walls, said wings having portions extending inwardly of said sidewalls and terminating short of each other to form a space between thewings,

and said wings extending outwardly beyond said side walls, the inwardlyextending portions of said wings forming a slot with the flat bottomwall, a second clasp member having a bottom wall, a spring tongueextending from one end of the bottom wall and inclined upwardly towardthe other end of said bottom wall, an upstanding wall extending upwardlyfrom the other end of said bottom wall, said upstanding wall extendingto opposite sides of said bottom wall, a pin fixed to the tongue andextending upwardly therefrom and formed with a head, said bottom walland tongue being insertable in the slot between the inwardly extendingwings of the first clasp member and the bottom wall of the first claspmember and said pin passing through said space between said wings.

3. The combination of claim 2, in combination with a flexible bandhaving one end attached to the upper edges of the upwardly extendingside walls of the first clasp member, and also being attached to saidaligned wings, and the other end of the band being attached to the outerface of the upstanding wall of said second clasp member.

4. The combination of claim 2, said aligned Wings of said first claspmember being formed with a pair of narrow slots extending outwardly ofthe first slot, and the bottom wall of the second clasp member havingside flanges extending outwardly beyond the sides of said spring tongueand received within said pair of slots.

5. The combination of claim 2, each of said clasp members being formedfrom a single blank of sheet material of uniform thickness.

' 6. In combination, a clasp member comprised of a single sheet of metalof uniform thickness bent to form a flat bottom wall, side wallsextending upwardly from the bottom wall, and wings connected to the sidewalls and having portions extending inwardly of the side walls andportions extending outwardly of the side walls, the inwardly extendingportions of the wings forming a space therebetween and also forming aslot with said bottom wall, a second clasp member having a bottom wall,a spring tongue extending from one end of the bottom wall and overlyingsaid bottom wall, and an upstanding wall extending upwardly from theother end of said bottom wall, said bottom wall and tongue being movablethrough the slot formed between the inwardly extending portions of thewings and the bottom wall of the first clasp member, said space betweenthe inwardly extending portions bent over the bottom section about therear end of h is sec ed to the pp side of Said tongue and passes i V 5through said space between the inwardly extending portions of saidwings.

9. The combination of claim 7, the bottom wall of the second claspmember having flanges extending outwardly beyond the sides of the springtongue, and said first clasp member being formed with narrow ends of theslot between said wings and said bottom wall extending from the firstslot to slidably receive said flanges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSNielsen Feb. 8, 1916 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain 1908 Great Britain1904 Great Britain Aug. 26, 1935 France May 18, 1912 France Aug. 20,1956

